Impact of High-Energy Electron Irradiation on Surge Currents in 4H-SiC JBS Schottky Diodes

The effect of irradiation with high-energy (0.9 MeV) electrons on surge currents in high-voltage (operating voltage 1700 V) 4H -SiC Schottky p-n diodes is studied in the microsecond range of the forward-current pulse duration. With increasing irradiation dose Φ, the hole injection threshold steadily grows, and the base-modulation level by minority carriers (holes) becomes lower. At Φ = 1.5 × 10¹⁶ cm^–2, no hole injection is observed up to forward voltages of ~30 V and forward current densities of j ≈ 9000 A/cm².